Oh Merry Happy!

It’s been quiet around here this year. Last year, we had the whole family (7 people and 3 dogs) together for the holiday. That doesn’t happen frequently enough, so it was wonderful and crowded and really nice. This year, it was just my parents and me (and two dogs) – The boy and his girlfriend were working, and the sister and brother-in-law (and their dog) stayed out west this year. What a change, though.

Our Christmas, like so many others’, is stuffed chock-full of tradition and habit. The big meal is always on Christmas Eve, and when we were little, Mom and Dad started the tradition of a candle-lit dinner. We’d stuff the table full of all the candles we could find and then would fight over how many candles each of us got to light (we apparently have all inherited our mother’s fascination with fire). Old-world Scandinavian foods fill our table – home-made potato sausage, lefse, fruit soup, pickled herring (above), and rice pudding are always a part of the meal, with some green vegetable.

It’s been a very hand-made season of gift-giving for me, and I’ve been chomping at the bit to show you what I’ve been up to over these past few weeks. But those posts are for later, after a few more hours or days of enjoying the season and this time of family, relaxation, and furious knitting to finish up the rest of the gifts.

Happy Christmas on this 3rd Day of Celebration! And a Merry New Year – I’ll be in touch!